


Pink Diamond's Return

by wisepuma23



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Also there needs to be more Steven bonding with evil gems, Alternate Universe - Canon, Feelings, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Pink Diamond is Evil, Rose Quartz is also a little evil, TURN THEM TO THE LIGHT, i believe in you, i mean think about it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-08
Updated: 2016-10-08
Packaged: 2018-08-20 04:45:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8236552
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wisepuma23/pseuds/wisepuma23
Summary: Pink Diamond has been mended together but she has requested that she be left in peace at the remains of her former place of power. The Crystal Gems distrust her and forbid Steven going near her other than scheduled healings to her gem while watching the Diamond for even a hint of hostility. But Steven knows Pink Diamonds knew about his mother and he has too many questions that he can't ask the Gems about. They would lie to him. So he sneaks off in the night to talk to her and it doesn't turn out the way he pictured.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [inK_AddicTion](https://archiveofourown.org/users/inK_AddicTion/gifts).



Steven snuck a glance at the Temple from underneath his blanket. Nothing. He gently slid off of his bed. Steven had went already dressed earlier that night since he didn’t want to fumble out of his pajamas in the dark. He took another furtive glance at the Temple. Still clear. Steven quietly slipped out of the house and into the swallowing darkness beyond.

Lion blinked at him from under the wooden stairs. Steven sighed relieved, good thing those Lion Lickers worked. No matter how disgusting they were… Steven gave Lion a large hug and started to usher him into town. It was eerie seeing Beach City deserted when it was usually so full of life. Then again, no one was up at three in the morning. Steven yawned. Eh, they were far away enough now from the city that no one would hear Lion’s roar.

“Lion, take me to _her_.” Steven whispered as he got onto his back, “Please?”

Lion stilled and made a disapproving groan and sat back on his haunches.

Steven rolled off and tried to push Lion up, “I know the Gems told me not to, but it’s important! I have to talk to Pinky.”

Lion curled up into a ball with a sniff and stared up at Steven wordlessly.

“Fine.” Steven crossed his arms and sat down on the pavement, “I want to talk to her about Rose Quartz. About mom.”

A couple of moments passed and then Lion kneeled down to let Steven up. His eyes became stars and he gave one more hug around Lion’s soft mane before getting up on him. Lion roared and the two of them disappeared in a blink of light.

+++

Steven stared up at the crumbling remains of Pink Diamond’s throne room in the heart of a dormant volcano. The rock walls towered far into the indigo sky, a faint pin prick above them. Pink Diamond’s throne faced the opposite wall, so they were behind her. Steven dismounted Lion quietly and made his way around to face her. Pink Diamond, or the faded ghost of what she used to be, a former ruthless ruler part of the Diamond Authority.

Pink Diamond looked down at him from her throne with a small snarl, “I rather prefer you wear a pink dress like all of my Quartzes, and with _my_ insignia on it. I’ll even make allowances for you, abomination.”

Steven sat on the muddy ground with his legs crossed, “Why do you keep calling me that, anyways?”

“Abomination?” Pink Diamond asked with a pretty brow raised, “It’s what you are, an unholy mix of gem and organic life. I also prefer to say what I see.”

Steven took in a breath and let it slowly out, “Just call me Steven. I know you aren’t happy with where you now.”

Pink Diamond took a lingering look down at her muddied dress, full of cuts and burns in some places, and looked at him. Steven felt a cold bead of sweat trickle down the back of his neck. He glanced at her diamond, he had healed it through binding the shards with a man-made process alongside his healing spit. The mostly intact diamond was binded with gold and he could faint lines so thin he’d almost miss them, across her form.

“You know, it’s funny that you’re the first Homeworld gem that hasn’t called me Rose without getting to know me first.” Steven said with a hopeful smile up at her.

Pink Diamond studied her fingers, “It’s because there is no mistaking that you are far lesser than Rose than you could ever hope to be.”

Steven winced, “Right. So, speaking of Rose. Could you tell me more about her? I don’t know much about her and I’m starting to doubt what I _do_ know.”

Pinky startled, as if she hadn’t expected the request. She looked at him again and then beckoned him closer. Steven rubbed his arm and took a glance at Lion. He was napping, doing those little kicks that animals do when they dream. Pink Diamond smiled as Steven stepped onto her hand and pulled him to her eye height.

“Your gem was created on a planet far from here. Your exit hole was more perfect than Jasper’s and you were custom built to obey _me_. It is almost tragic that you’d never be able to see your exit hole again, little Rose Quartz, since your mortal form would disintegrate into dust long before then. Did you know? I was the youngest of the Diamond Authority and I was made here on this rock. You were a gift from my older sisters and I died far too young because of you. I was only five years old compared to their eons of life when I was shattered. But I suppose that we were both destined to fade into faint shells of ourselves. Never to fulfill our potential to the fullest.” Pink Diamond said resignedly as she gently cradled Steven in her hands.

There was something unsettling familiar about the way she held him, and then he felt his shirt being lifted with a careful finger.

“White Diamond always kissed her pearls moments after their first emerging from their gems. She had told me once that the first being they ever see, the Pearl would never ever forget them and serve them faithfully until the end.” Pink Diamond brought Steven closer to her face, slightly squirming, “I was there at your first emerging because I knew you would be special. It’s only fair that I bless this new emerging despite that I wasn’t there to see it.”

Steven shut his eyes as Pink Diamond took up most of his vision, bracing for the cold touch of her lips. His stomach did strange twists. No one had really touched his gem, his shirt always kept it hidden and the Gems gave it glancing touches when absolutely necessary, and his Dad had only gone so far to give it soft taps. Steven pried one eye open to see Pink Diamond peering down bemusedly.

“Keep your eyes open.”

Steven snapped his eyes open in surprise when suddenly he felt a feather light kiss on his gem. And then it was over. Steven was set down on her lap before he knew what happened. A large finger petted him gently as Pinky stared into the distance.

“So, what are you planning?” Steven asked, “If you don’t mind me asking, that is.”

“I want to drain the Earth of its resources, you ‘Crystal Gems’ have done well to preserve it and allowing it to become even richer with minerals. I’ll be there for every single emergence of my army from my former Kindergartens. I wasn’t there in the beginning but I’ve learned from my mistakes now,” Pink Diamond rubbed at her diamond, “I want to see my sisters again and then they’ll help me shatter everyone who had a hand in my demise and we’ll put the ‘corrupted’ out of their misery by blasting the Earth to pure dust.”

Steven paled.

“What about the humans?” Steven said quietly.

Pinky stopped her petting, “What about them? Oh, do you mean you? You won’t be shattered, little abomination, it took half a planet and a war to make you in the first place. Far too much work to go through again.” she said as if ‘abomination’ was a cute and fond nickname and Steven at least appreciated where it came from but his name was _Steven._

“My name is Steven.” he said petulantly, “And I mean humans, like my Dad and Connie, and everybody! This is their home. My home too.”

“So was mine.” Pink Diamond said but her eyes narrowed as she continued petting, “But look at what it did to me. And it allowed you to exist. And don’t you think I haven’t noticed what humans have done to it in my absence, “ she sniffed with a disgusted curl, “the minerals and rocks complain of humans hollowing them out for something called _oil_.”

Pinky smirked, “Looks like humans and diamonds aren’t that different after all, hollowing out a planet for resources that will eventually send it into decline.”

“But humans are changing!” Steven shouted, “We’re finding other stuff for energy like from the sun and the wind and the water.”

Pinky shushed him, “Steven, why do you visit and heal me? My every objective conflicts with yours and I would rather see your Crystal Gems shattered at my feet. If you want to change me, you will have no luck, trust me on this.”

“You knew my mom.” Steven answered quietly, “And I know you won’t hurt me.”

Pink Diamond wrapped a hand around Steven and asked coldly, “Do you?”

Steven smiled up at her, “And I want to believe you can change. I have to. Jasper saw something in you to devote her last words to, and I want to find it. Until then, let’s be friends.”

Pink Diamond set Steven onto the muddy floor in front of her crumbling throne, “It’ll be hard to be friends with someone far beneath me. Especially if that same someone had done countless war crimes in their past regeneration. Including the shattering of myself.”

Steven deflated, “Oh okay. I won’t force you into it if you don’t want to.”

“However, I will try.” Pinky smirked dark and mean, “It would be rather unwise to foster enmity between us when I risk a second shattering worse than the last.”

“I would never--!”

“Oh, I know you wouldn’t, since you don’t even have an ounce of Rose’s cruelty. Otherwise you’d be dead where you stand.” Pink Diamond waved a hand, “You are free to go, little abomination.”  

Steven clenched his fists but did bite his tongue as he left. Lion was already awake and they disappeared with a roar and a pop. He was left with even more questions and less answers than before. However he didn’t like the pattern that Homeworld Gems said about Rose, like her horrifying cruelty for one. He remembered once that Garnet had argued amongst herself after seeing the Gem Experiments for the first time if Rose knew about their existence. Steven shuddered, Rose might have known all of the Diamond’s plans or at very least Pinky’s when she belonged to her. How much did she know and why hadn’t she done anything to stop it? Why hadn’t _Steven_ done anything?

Steven saw a butterfly rest on Lion’s mane as they flew through the portal tunnel. Of course, he laughed bitterly to himself. Then he was back outside of Beach City, and the sun was starting to peek over the horizon, the color of a yolk out of a freshly broken egg. Steven slipped off of Lion and suddenly felt too tired to stand and instead laid down on the soft grass by the road.

More butterflies flew overhead, white and pale as a skeleton bleached by the sun. He’s seen them when wandering too far down the beach. He closed his eyes and opened them again to see a orange streaked world full of screaming and the faint sound of shattering gems. _I’m sorry!_ Steven became lost in his own thoughts of what might have been and what was to come. Lion padded over and curled around the boy, his wet nose snuffling him in an attempt to help. Lion softly groaned and rested his head in Steven’s lap. The sun crawled up the sky as Beach City roused slow and gentle, meanwhile the Crystal Gems wondered why Steven hadn’t showed up for breakfast yet.

**Author's Note:**

> so this is based off inK_AddicTion's chapter 8 of [Fragments](http://archiveofourown.org/works/8179603/chapters/18740284) which was cool and i just wanted to see more of it 
> 
> i like the idea of evil Pink Diamond and Steven trying to bond with her
> 
> and she does but is completely stubborn about getting her revenge and I MEAN SHE KINDA HAS A POINT 
> 
> even Yellow Diamond's motives to make the Cluster makes sense if you see it as her way coping with the death of her younger sister and trying to forget her birthplace that had so quickly became her tomb. :C
> 
> PINK DIAMOND WAS SERIOUSLY YOUNG IF SHE HAD ONLY ONE COLONY AND THERE IS EVIDENCE THAT SHE PROBABLY EMERGED FROM THE EARTH SO THAT'S PRETTY DANG YOUNG
> 
> ;A;
> 
> and i mean 'sister' in the loosest term because the show literally gives us no clues on their relations with the other Diamonds so i could be wrong and they are like unrelated at all so OOPS
> 
> and i am so PUMPED about the show going into the morally grey area with Rose shattering Pinky and it does raise questions about how many DARK secrets did she keep and there are some implications that she knew what Homeworld did to captured CG and she hadn't done much to stop it 
> 
> and don't get me started on how dang FISHY it is that she has a fondness for hybrids even before she wanted to make Steven, and I mean I could go on and on, but Rose is shady as all hell and Steven is right to doubt her but dang at what cost? 
> 
> there is a theory that steven is like a fusion and the butterflies signify that he's destabilizing because he's clashing so much with Rose's decisions that he's coming undone, and i'm pretty sure the self-hatred and PTSD isn't helping either
> 
> this is a kid's show! C:
> 
> also i wrote this at midnight very sleepy so pls dont judge :p


End file.
